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Tom Hagen
Thomas Feargal Hagen was the Corleone family consigliere and formally adopted son of Vito Corleone. Biography Thomas Hagen was born the son of Martin and Bridget Hagen. Martin was a hard-working carpenter who had never done a dishonest thing in his life, but he was also a violent alcoholic. When Hagen was ten years old, his mother Bridget caught an eye infection that resulted in blindness, and died soon after from venereal disease. Torn up with grief, his father became a hopeless drunkard and a few months later Martin Hagen drank himself to death. Hagen and his sister were stuck in an orphanage, but Hagen ran away. The sister ended up in a foster home, but the social agencies of the time did not follow up on Hagen's case. Hagen lived on the streets for more than a year. Living with the Corleones Hagen first encountered the young Santino Corleone in the winter of 1922. Sonny and two older boys had wandered into a dangerous alley in the Irish part of Hell's Kitchen, an alley in which Hagen was hiding. They encountered a man selling switchblades and tried to buy one. The man pulled a knife and dragged Sonny into the alley, while the other two boys ran. Hagen grabbed a board with a nail sticking out of it and brought it down on the back of the man’s head, impaling and killing him. Sonny and Hagen looked at each other and laughed nearly to the point of tears. They introduced themselves to each other, and walked away from the alley together, arms looped around each other’s shoulders. Sonny asked about the eye infection, and about Hagen’s parents. Hagen just said his mother was dead and his father was gone. Sonny took him home and persuaded his father to take him into the family. Although the Don never formally adopted him, thinking that this would have been an act of disrespect to Hagen's parents, Hagen thought of Vito Corleone as his true father. After graduating from law school, Hagen offered to work for Corleone as though he were one of the Don's own sons. His German-Irish ancestry precluded his formal membership in the Mafia, which did not accept non-Italians, but after the death of Genco Abbandando, Hagen acted as consigliere to Don Corleone, the first non-Italian to achieve that important position. In the novel, it was said that Hagen's ascension to consigliere caused certain rival Mafia families to refer jokingly to the Corleones, behind their backs, as "the Irish gang". Becoming Consigliere In 1945, shortly after Connie Corleone's wedding, Hagen was dispatched by Vito Corleone to Hollywood in order to convince Jack Woltz, a big-time movie studio head, to give singer/actor Johnny Fontane (Vito's godson) the lead role in his new war film. When Woltz discovered who exactly Hagen worked for, he invited him over to his palatial estate for dinner, and showed him his prized horse, Khartoum. During the dinner, when Hagen again "suggested" that Woltz give Fontane the role, Woltz erupted at him and revealed that Johnny would never get the career-making role because of his ruination of one of Woltz's brightest up-and-coming female stars. Later on that night, men stole into Woltz's stables and decapitated Khartoum, then proceeded to place the horse's severed head and a large amount of its blood in Woltz's bed. Shortly afterwards, Johnny was given the role by Woltz. While he loved all the Corleones, Hagen always idolized Sonny, and when Sonny was murdered, Hagen blamed himself. After becoming the new head of the family, Michael Corleone removed him as consigliere, taking the advice given by his father, restricting him to handling the family's legal business in Nevada, Chicago, and Los Angeles. When Tom asks why he was being removed, Michael answers by telling him he just isn't "a wartime consigliere". Nevada Tom remained on as the Family's lawyer despite his removal from the illegal activities when Michael made the move to Nevada. He also made moves towards becoming a Congressman. After an attempt on the life of Michael, Hagen took over as Don whilst Michael tried to find out who in his organization had betrayed him and aided the assassins. Hagen was instrumental in both securing the friendship of powerful Senator Pat Geary and defending Michael during the Senate hearings on the Mafia. Following the hearing, he encouraged turncoat soldier Frank Pentangeli to commit suicide. Reinstation After the fall of Cuba to the communists and the killing of Fredo Corleone, Hagen retook a more active role in the Corleone family. The fall of Cuba forced Michael to abandon his dream of becoming a legitimate businessman and retake his place as the Don of the Corleone family. As a result, Hagen was given back his old position as consigliere for the family, advising the new Don of New York, Dominic Corleone. Tom helped Dominic defeat the enemies of the family until the Corleone family once again became unchallengeable. The 1960s In 1961, following the failed plot by Nick Geraci and Vincent Forlenza against the Corleones, Louie Russo invited Tom Hagen to his supper club/gambling house in rural Illinois with the intention of killing him. Russo, Hagen, a rower, and two Russo soldatos went out on a gondola in his man-made lake. On the course of the trip, as part of Michael's revenge, Hagen killed one soldati by strangulation with his belt while the rower hit the other with his oar. Hagen then personally killed Russo on his boat, with Russo's own gun, and dumped the bodies in the lake. At the next Commission meeting, Tom was arrested under suspicion of murdering his mistress, Judy Buchanan, whose death had in fact been orchestrated by enemies of the Family. This situation ruined any chance he had of a political career, despite being acquitted. During this time, he was represented by Jewish lawyer Sid Klein. Theresa left Tom for a brief while after discovering the affair, but the two reunited soon after and Theresa was present when Tom went to visit Jack Woltz later in the year. Death In 1964, shortly before the president's assassination, while on vacation with his family in Florida, Tom was doing some business for Michael at the Deauville Hotel in Miami, after meeting with Ben Tamarkin and Senator Pat Geary. He left and was surprised by Nick Geraci who had been hiding in the back of Tom's car and secretly following him for days. He had Tom drive to a rural, swamp filled area and then knocked him unconscious with his pistol. When he came to, he realized his hands and feet had been duct-taped together and his car was sinking into the swamp and quickly filling with thick, brown water. He then had a memory of meeting Sonny, and being taken in by the Corleone family, and dies with one last happy memory in his head as the water engulfed Tom and the car totally. Though his body was never found, Michael Corleone was sent by Nick Geraci a dead baby alligator with Tom Hagen's wallet in it's mouth, to imply that Tom Hagen slept with the alligators. He was 54 years old. Family In addition to a mistress, Hagen had a wife, Theresa. Together they had four children: Frank, Andrew, and two daughters. Andrew later becomes a priest and is also Michael's godson, and since he is Andrew's godfather, Michael helps to get Andrew a position in the Vatican. Real life sources Tom Hagen is believed to be loosely based on gangsters Joseph N. Gallo, who was the Gambino crime family consigliere, and Frank DeSimone, who started his career as a lawyer, but ended up being the Los Angeles crime family boss. Personality and traits Tom always tried to approach a dangerous situation with a civil outcome. He was known throughout the family as a nice guy who would help in times of need. Despite being adopted by the Corleones, he loved each of them and was very sad when Sonny was killed, as the two were best friends. Tom did have a temper but never really showed it as he was supposed to act calm in dangerous situations. Tom was the most intelligent of the Corleones as he had to be for a Consigliere, but was never really a fighter to begin with. Notes and references Hagen, Tom Category: Corleones Category:Deceased